Day: July 28, 2016

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Auto booster : CAR THIEF
“To boost” is a slang term meaning “to steal” and especially “to shoplift”.

14. One-named musician who has performed at the Egyptian pyramids and the Taj Mahal : YANNI
Yanni is a remarkable Greek musician, very successful in the world of New Age music. What I find so remarkable is that he is a self-taught musician.

16. ___ Accords : OSLO
The Oslo Accords grew out of secret negotiations between the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel in a residence in Oslo in the early nineties. The delegates shared the same house while they conducted 14 meetings. While eating all their meals together at the same table, the negotiators came to respect one another and apparently friendships developed.

17. Like the rock in “Rock of Ages” : CLEFT
“Rock of Ages” is Christian hymn that dates back to 1763 when it was written by the Reverend Augustus Montague Toplady (what a great name!). Tradition has it that Toplady was caught in a storm while travelling along a gorge near his parish in the Mendip Hills in England. He took shelter in a gap in the gorge, and the fissure that protected him inspired him to write the title and first few lines of the hymn on a playing card that he was carrying. If you travel through the Mendip Hills today, there is indeed a fissure that is marked “Rock of Ages”.

18. River across the French/German border : SAAR
The Saar is a river that rises on the border between Alsace and Lorraine in France, flows through western Germany and finally enters the Moselle. Historically the Saar river valley was an important source for coal, iron and steel.

19. Composer Schifrin : LALO
Lalo Schifrin is an Argentine pianist and composer best-known for writing film and television scores. Famously, Schifrin wrote the theme for “Mission: Impossible”, but also for “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”, “Mannix” and “Starsky and Hutch”.

20. Singer of “Footloose” : LORI
Lori Singer is an actress, and also a cellist. Singer’s most famous acting role was the daughter of the Reverend Shaw Moore (played by John Lithgow) in “Footloose”.

The 1984 musical drama “Footloose” tells the story of a Chicago teen (played by Kevin Bacon) who moves to a small town in which dancing and rock music has been banned. The storyline is loosely based on real events in the Oklahoma City of Elmore. Dancing was banned in Elmore for almost 100 years, with the ban eventually being lifted in 1980.

21. Spray in a kitchen : PAM
PAM cooking oil was introduced in 1961 by Leon Rubin and Arthur Meyerhoff. The name “PAM” is an acronym … standing for “Product of Arthur Meyerhoff”. Who’d a thunk it …?

24. Gloria of Miami Sound Machine : ESTEFAN
Gloria Estefan is a Cuban American singer, born in Havana. She fled Cuba along with her family after the Cuban Revolution, and ended up in Miami. Her father fought for the US military in Vietnam, and also took part in the doomed Bay of Pigs invasion. Years later, Gloria herself was approached by the CIA to work for the agency due to her skill with languages. She ended up doing quite well singing instead …

29. Plains tribe : KIOWA
The Kiowa Native Americans have a name that means “Principal People”. Most of the Kiowas today live on a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma.

41. Bklyn. ___ : HTS
The part of the borough of Brooklyn known as Brooklyn Heights was the first commuter town for New York, blossoming when the a steam ferry service started to run between the Heights and Wall Street in the early 19th-century.

42. One of the carriers in the SkyTeam alliance : AEROFLOT
Aeroflot is the flag carrier of the Russian Federation. Aeroflot is one of the oldest airlines in the world and started operations as the Russian Society of Voluntary Air Fleet in 1923. Back in the days of the Soviet Union, Aeroflot was also the world’s largest airline, an honor that now goes to Delta Airlines. I flew Aeroflot into Moscow one time. Quite memorable …

The airline alliance known as SkyTeam is headquartered at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. SkyTeam was founded in 2000 by Aeroméxico, Air France, Delta Air Lines, and Korean Air as a competitor to the Star Alliance and Oneworld.

44. Black-and-white Best Picture winner : THE ARTIST
“The Artist” is a 2011 movie from France that was filmed in black-and-white, and without sound. This dated format reflects the movie’s subject matter. The story takes place in Hollywood during the days when silent movies were being replaced by “talkies”. “The Artist” has won more awards than any other French film in history, including a Best Picture Oscar.

46. Big name in soup : KNORR
When I was growing up in Ireland, we never saw Campbell’s soup on the shelves. It was basically all Knorr products, and dehydrated soup from a packet at that. How times have changed. Knorr is a German brand, now owned by the Anglo-Dutch Company Unilever.

58. Subtext of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” : LSD
The sixties folk group called Jefferson Airplane gave rise to two spin-off groups that were founded by former Jefferson Airplane band members. The first was Jefferson Starship, and the second was Starship. Confusing, huh?

59. Reebok competitor : AVIA
The Avia brand name for athletic shoes was chosen as “avia” is the Latin word for “to fly”, and suggests the concept of aviation. Avia was founded in Oregon in 1979.

The brand name Reebok was adopted as the new company name for Foster Shoes of the UK in 1960. The name Reebok (more commonly “Rhebok”) is an Afrikaans word for an antelope, and comes from the term “roe buck”.

63. Orbitz bookings : TRIPS
Orbitz is one of the big online travel companies, one that is based in Chicago. Orbitz was originally set up as a joint-venture of several airlines including Continental, Delta, Northwest and United.

65. Musical with the song “It’s Today” : MAME
The musical “Mame” opened on Broadway in 1966, with Angela Lansbury in the title role. The musical is based on the 1955 novel “Auntie Mame” written by Patrick Dennis.

69. Bond orders : MARTINIS
The term “martini” probably takes it name from the “Martini & Rossi” brand of dry vermouth, although no one seems to be completely sure. What is clear is that despite the Martini name originating in Italy, the martini drink originated in the US. The original martini was made with gin and sweet vermouth, but someone specifying a “dry” martini was given gin and dry vermouth. Nowadays we use dry vermouth for all martinis and the term “dry” has become a reference to how little vermouth is included in the drink. Famously, Noel Coward liked his drink very dry and said that a perfect martini is made by “filling a glass with gin then waving it in the general direction of Italy”. The German-American journalist and satirist H. L. Mencken referred to the martini as “the only American invention as perfect as a sonnet”.

Down
2. Celestial rings : HALOS
The Greek word “halos” is the name given to the ring of light around the sun or moon, which gives us our word “halo”, used for a radiant light depicted above the head of a saintly person.

4. W.W. I rifle : ENFIELD
Enfield is the most northerly borough of London. Enfield was home to the Royal Small Arms Factory, the manufacturer of the famed Lee-Enfield .303 rifle, standard issue to the British Army through WWII.

5. Honda offering : FIT
The Honda Fit (called the Jazz in some markets) is a subcompact hatchback. We looked at the Fit when shopping for a new car recently, but opted for the larger Toyota Prius instead, a choice we have not regretted …

7. Cheese used in Babybels : EDAM
The Babybel brand of cheese was launched in 1952 by the Bel Group, a multinational supplier of cheese that is headquartered in Paris. Babybel cheese is sold in distinctive packaging. It comes in a netted bag, with small pieces of the cheese are encased in red wax with an outer cellophane wrapper. That’s a lot of packaging for a small amount of cheese …

8. Like : A LA
The phrase “in the style of” can be translated in “alla” in Italian and “à la” in French.

10. Guiding light : POLARIS
Because the orientation of the Earth’s axis shifts, albeit very slowly, the position of north relative to the stars changes over time. The bright star that is closest to true north is Polaris, and so we call Polaris the North Star or Pole Star. 14,000 years ago, the nearest bright star to true north was Vega, and it will be so again in about 12,000 years time.

12. Scatter? : ELLA
Scat singing is a vocal improvisation found in the world of jazz. There aren’t any words as such in scat singing, just random nonsense syllables made up on the spot.

Ella Fitzgerald, the “First Lady of Song”, had a hard and tough upbringing. She was raised by her mother alone in Yonkers, New York. Her mother died while Ella was still a schoolgirl, and around that time the young girl became less interested in her education. She fell in with a bad crowd, even working as a lookout for a bordello and as a Mafia numbers runner. She ended up in reform school, from which she escaped, and found herself homeless and living on the streets for a while. Somehow Fitzgerald managed to get herself a spot singing in the Apollo Theater in Harlem. From there her career took off and as they say, the rest is history.

28. L.A.’s ___ Museum : GETTY
The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles is one of the most visited museums in the country. Like many museums in developed countries these days, the Getty has been embroiled in disputes about ownership of artifacts. The curators of the Getty have gone so far as to repatriate some items in recent years, especially to Greece and Italy. The J. Paul Getty Museum has to locations. The Getty Center is the primary location, and houses art from the Middle Ages to the present. The associated (and beautiful) Getty Villa displays art from ancient Greece, Rome and Etruria.

33. Schnozz : BEAK
“Schnoz” is a slang term for a nose, particularly a large one.

35. Enemy of the early Christians : NERO
Nero was Emperor of Rome from 54 to 68 CE, and he had quite the family life. When he was just 16-years-old Nero married his step-sister Claudia Octavia. He also had his mother and step-brother executed.

37. Squire of “The Wind in the Willows” : MR TOAD
Mr. Toad is one of the main characters in the children’s novel “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame. A. A. Milne (of “Winnie the Pooh” fame) wrote several plays based on “The Wind in the Willows”, the first of which is “Toad of Toad Hall”. And, Mr Toad’s Wild Ride was (it’s gone now!) one of the original rides at Disneyland when the park opened in 1955.

“The Wind in the Willows” is a classic children’s novel first published in 1908. Featured in the story are characters such as Mole, Ratty, Mr. Toad and Mr. Badger. The story’s author was Kenneth Grahame, a man who held the exalted position of Secretary of the Bank of England.

43. First name in popcorn : ORVILLE
Orville Redenbacher’s Gourmet Popping Corn was introduced in 1969. Redenbacher starred in the commercials for the product, until he died in 1995. Sadly, he suffered a heart attack and drowned in his jacuzzi.

45. King nicknamed Longshanks : EDWARD I
Edward I of England was on the throne from 1272 to 1307 and was also known as Edward Longshanks. The “Longshanks” name came from Edward’s exceptional height.

50. Vagabond : TRAMP
A “vagabond” is a person without a home who moves from place to place. The term derives from the Latin “vagabundus” meaning “wandering, strolling about”.

52. Fiji alternative : EVIAN
Évian-les-Bains (or simply Évian) is in the very east of France, on the shores of Lake Geneva directly across the lake from Lausanne, Switzerland. As one might imagine, Évian is the home of Évian mineral water, the most successful business in town. Personally, I can’t stand the distinctive taste of Évian water …

Fiji Water, as you might guess, is a brand of water from the Fiji Islands. I just think that bottling water and sending it around the world is absolutely insane …

53. Florentine painter : LIPPI
Fra’ Filippo Lippi was an Italian painter in the 15th century, who was also called Lippo Lippi would you believe? The Victorian poet Robert Browning used the artist as the main character in a dramatic monologue he called “Fra Lippo Lippi”.

56. Ice cream flavor : OREO
Apparently Oreo Ice Cream flavors were introduced relatively recently, in 2010.

57. Get some quick money for, say : PAWN
I remember the bad old days growing up in Dublin, Ireland, when my mother had to go to the pawn shop (I hope she doesn’t read this!). I’d wait outside with my brother, looking up at the pawnbroker’s sign, three gold balls hanging down from a metal bar. This traditional sign used by pawnbrokers is said to date back to the Medici family as the sign had symbolic meaning in the province of Lombardy where the Medici family reigned supreme. Because of this connection, pawn shop banking was originally called Lombard banking.

62. Besmirch : TAR
“Besmirch” is a derivative of “smirch”, with both words meaning to “make dirty”. In particular, to besmirch is to sully someone’s reputation.

63. Skye cap : TAM
A tam o’shanter is a man’s cap traditionally worn by Scotsmen. “Tams” were originally all blue (and called “blue bonnets”) but as more dyes became readily available they became more colorful. The name of the cap comes from the title character of the Robert Burns poem “Tam O’Shanter”.

The Isle of Skye is off the northwest coast of Scotland in the Inner Hebrides. It is the second largest island in the country, and has been linked to the mainland by a road bridge since 1995. I’ve never been there, but I hear the views are spectacular.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Auto booster : CAR THIEF
6. It lends a smoky flavor to Scotch : PEAT
10. Has a ball : PARTIES
14. One-named musician who has performed at the Egyptian pyramids and the Taj Mahal : YANNI
15. Kind of chat : IDLE
16. ___ Accords : OSLO
17. Like the rock in “Rock of Ages” : CLEFT
18. River across the French/German border : SAAR
19. Composer Schifrin : LALO
20. Singer of “Footloose” : LORI
21. Spray in a kitchen : PAM
22. Patronize, as a hotel : STAY AT
24. Gloria of Miami Sound Machine : ESTEFAN
26. Sweetums : DEAR
27. Releases : LETS GO
29. Plains tribe : KIOWA
33. One making the rounds? : BARTENDER
36. Tangles up : ENMESHES
38. Day of planning : EVE
39. Letter writing, they say … or a hint to eight answers in this puzzle : LOST ART
41. Bklyn. ___ : HTS
42. One of the carriers in the SkyTeam alliance : AEROFLOT
44. Black-and-white Best Picture winner : THE ARTIST
46. Big name in soup : KNORR
47. Secondary route : BY-ROAD
49. They’re out of service : VETS
51. Have a healthy diet : EAT WELL
55. Cheating student : COPIER
58. Subtext of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” : LSD
59. Reebok competitor : AVIA
60. Like some hygiene : ORAL
61. Bickering : AT IT
63. Orbitz bookings : TRIPS
64. Whimper : MEWL
65. Musical with the song “It’s Today” : MAME
66. Evolve : ADAPT
67. Series opener : PART ONE
68. Spur : PROD
69. Bond orders : MARTINIS

Down
1. New moon to new moon, e.g. : CYCLE
2. Celestial rings : HALOS
3. Unmoving : INERT
4. W.W. I rifle : ENFIELD
5. Honda offering : FIT
6. Ones taking sides : PARTISANS
7. Cheese used in Babybels : EDAM
8. Like : A LA
9. Not windy : TERSE
10. Guiding light : POLARIS
11. British interjection : I SAY!
12. Scatter? : ELLA
13. Shade of black : SOOT
21. Keep the beat? : PATROL
23. “So there!” : TAKE THAT!
25. “Help yourself” : FEEL FREE
26. Lady of Brazil : DONA
28. L.A.’s ___ Museum : GETTY
30. “Didn’t think you’d be here” : OH HI
31. Dips in a bucket, say : WETS
32. Second hand: Abbr. : ASST
33. Schnozz : BEAK
34. What people who are hurt may try to get : EVEN
35. Enemy of the early Christians : NERO
37. Squire of “The Wind in the Willows” : MR TOAD
40. Breaks down : SOBS
43. First name in popcorn : ORVILLE
45. King nicknamed Longshanks : EDWARD I
48. Went back to square one : RESTARTED
50. Vagabond : TRAMP
52. Fiji alternative : EVIAN
53. Florentine painter : LIPPI
54. Holds up : LASTS
55. Give gratis : COMP
56. Ice cream flavor : OREO
57. Get some quick money for, say : PAWN
58. Member of a motorcade : LIMO
62. Besmirch : TAR
63. Skye cap : TAM

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